Who can argue with that! It is hanging in the organic food market in the SF Ferry Building, which is not where I would have expected to find it, but I’m not going to complain!
Cold Beer Served Here!
1
Category Archives: Photography
Blossom’s Out
Well, on Ansel Avenue here in Alameda it is anyway. Our own tree has not flowered yet (it was later last year too).
As ever when trying to get photos of flowers, the second I get the camera out (in this case the Nokia N95), the wind picks up making it much harder to get good macro shots. Still, given the wind and the fact that I was only using a mobile phone camera, this came out OK I thought.
Nokia N95 Cartoonise
I love the iPhone for web browsing and email, but the Nokia N95 wins hands down when it comes to photos, and that’s important for me because I just can’t carry my Canon 20D everywhere I go. I can, and do, carry my mobile phone!
Tonight, as I was walking up to the ferry terminal in SF, this bright red Saturn Sky pulled up on the footpath area and paused. Long enough for me to get the N95 out and snap a couple of shots, but probably not long enough to have unpacked the SLR.
But then, while sitting waiting for the ferry to arrive, I discovered that not only can it take stunning photos (there is no comparison to the iPhone’s camera in terms of quality), but there’s also an image editor on the phone that can crop, resize, sharpen, adjust colors and even apply a cool cartoon effect. Oh, and then I can upload the full size image straight into my Flickr stream, all from the phone.
Update: Check out the punched up version (created using the Gimp to adjust the levels a little on the original image).
Now I just need to work out how to get something similar to that from the image editor in the phone, which is a lot less sophisticated than the Gimp or Photoshop 🙁
Stump Moss
Another weekend at home this weekend, so I posted a few more photos from my trip back to England over Christmas & New Year. There are more in the Flickr stream too.
Skiing Ants
Last weekend we did a day trip up to Sugar Bowl, and I spent some of the time up there taking pictures, mostly at the Judah lodge area.
This shot, taken from the Judah lodge patio area, shows tiny people skiing (and snowboarding too) down one of the runs back to the lodge area. Even with the longest lens I have, they still look tiny on the slope.
My Flickr stream has more pictures from Sugar Bowl, including some photos of contestants in a ski & snowboard jumping competition that was going on there.
A Dream Yacht
Tied up right next to the Alameda ferry terminal on Main Street is the mega-yacht Ulysses. She is 192′ long and able to house 14 guests in 7 staterooms, in addition to a crew of nine.
Interestingly, she has an unusual history. Just prior to being launched from the New Orleans shipyard that built her, she was almost totally destroyed by fire. After buying her remains from the insurance company, her original owner, New Zealand businessman Graeme Hart, had her taken to Brisbane, Australia and refitted totally.
Now she is in Alameda, California, at the Bay Ship yard, along with another ship from the Trinity stable: Pangaea.
Giant Spider
So, the metal woman & child were taken away a while back, and then a few weeks later the space was filled by a giant, metal spider. What more can I say about that? Personally, I don’t think I like the spider as much as the mother & child… it just seems more ominous.
Leaf Frost
First it was cold and frosty, then it was wet but milder and finally yesterday it actually snowed (though it didn’t last long and was pretty much gone from down here in the south east of England by the evening).
Today is overcast, but a lot warmer. Not good photo weather, but since I’m almost leaving it does give me a chance to get packed and ready.
Alien Sea Craft?
Are they from another planet? Well, no, just from a part of our own planet that few see. Monterey? Oh, no, sorry, I meant under the great oceans. This particular one was, however, in the aquarium at Monterey. Part of a spectacular section of the aquarium devoted to jelly fish.
Many people are familiar with the orange on blue jelly fish photos that have become a signature image for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but there are many other species at the aquarium too from ghostly white saucers to jellies that could be mistaken for plants.
Burning the Bridge
We’re heading into winter now. It has been darker when I wake up to head into work, and the sun is much lower in the sky. That makes for some interesting photos like this one where the sun makes the bridge seem as though it is burning white hot and melting into the bay beneath it. Or perhaps I’m just imagining it.